Talking about the revelation that the church's pension fund had invested in payday lender Wonga, the Most Reverend Justin Welby has said the business is "incredibly complex" and explained of a £5.5bn portfolio, £75,000 was invested indirectly in Wonga without his knowledge.

After a national newspaper revealed the Church of England has links to pay-day lender Wonga, Lambeth Palace has responded. This follows the Archbishop of Canterbury's promise to take on pay-day lenders like Wonga.

"We are grateful to the Financial Times for pointing out this serious inconsistency of which we were unaware.

"We will be asking the Assets Committee of the Church Commissioners to investigate how this has occurred and to review the holding in this pooled investment vehicle."

"We will also be requesting the Church Commissions to investigate whether there are any other inconsistencies as normally all investment policies are reviewed by the Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG)."

The Church of England has called for an investigation into its own pension fund after The Financial Times revealed it had links to pay-day lender Wonga. It comes as the Archbishop of Canterbury, and former Bishop of Durham, Most Rev Justin Welby, said he wants to take on pay-day lenders.

The fund invests in Accel Partners, a US venture capital firm that led the fundraising for Wonga in 2009, the report states.

The Archbishop of Canterbury told Wonga the Church of England wants to 'compete it out of existence;. Credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

A Lambeth Palace spokesperson said: “We will be asking the Assets Committee of the Church Commissioners to investigate how this has occurred and to review the holding in this pooled investment vehicle.”

Papiss Cisse pictured wearing last season's Newcastle short which was sponsored by Virgin Money. Credit: PA

Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse has agreed to wear the logo of sponsor Wonga on his shirt.

The 28-year-old Muslim had refused to display the pay-day loan company's branding on his kit because earning interest is forbidden by Islamic Law.

However, after several weeks of delicate negotiations, the Senegal international and the club have now found a solution and the player, who missed the club's pre-season training camp in Portugal as a result of his stance, will return to the fold.

The Church of England's Head of Mission and Public Affairs says the time the Archbishop of Canterbury spent in cities including Durham has influenced his decision to tackle pay-day loans companies.

Rev Dr Malcolm Brown said: "This is a man who has worked in a lot of major cities in the country - Coventry, Liverpool, Durham.

"He wasn't in Durham very long but he found out a great deal about it and that's been a major factor in the way he's approached the whole question of finance, banking and the way people work with money."